Walking home late the other night, I spotted something red in the roundabout. I say that like I hadn’t previously noticed the flowers growing amongst the shrubs, but I’ve been watching spring pop up around the neighbourhood for weeks. It was the crocuses first–white, purple, and yellow petals breaking up the expanse of green lawn. Now the daffodils are taking over–show-offs. The plum and cherry blossoms are in first bloom, the rhododendrons are coming on, and the magnolia buds have started to drop their fuzzy outer leaves.

It’s finally spring outside, so I picked this red bud from the roundabout in the middle of the street and brought it inside with me. The next morning, it opened up into this red and yellow flame, a fiery greeting to the new season.